The F-41 Exoatmospheric Multirole Strike Fighter, commonly known as the Broadsword, is a VTOL atmospheric/exoatmospheric (A/X) multirole strike fighter manufactured by Misriah Armory and used by the UNSC Armed Forces.[1] Like other UNSC A/X attack craft, the Broadsword is named after a bladed weapon.

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Specifications

Design details

The F-41 Broadsword is a versatile and well-armed A/X strike fighter typically used to engage equal or superior enemy craft in low- to zero-gravity conditions. As its kind has few equals within humanity's known arsenal, the Broadsword was designed to address the incredible speed and firepower displayed by a variety of Covenant fighters. It is most prominently used by the UNSC Air Force in suborbital dogfights.[2]

After the Infinity crash landed on the shield worldRequiem's inner surface, Broadswords were deployed to assault the Ur-Didact's Cryptum and the Covenant vessels besieging the ship, but not before SpartanJohn-117 had reactivated the ship's MAC defense turrets. Later, as Gypsy Company was sent on a mission to destroy Forerunner particle cannons, at least two Broadswords were deployed by the Infinity to assist.

Ivanoff Station had several Broadsword fighters in its hangar bay, though they were not used during the Didact's attack on the station. John-117 armed one with a HAVOK nuclear warhead, intending to destroy the Didact's ship, Mantle's Approach, before he could unleash the Composer on Earth. John caught up with Mantle's Approach just before it entered slipspace, flying beneath its shields since the Broadsword's were inadequate for slipspace travel. After arriving at Earth, he used the Broadsword to destroy the ship's point-defense guns so that the Infinity could punch a hole through the ship. Flying the fighter inside the warship's hull, the walls closed around the Broadsword and crushed it, forcing the Spartan to carry the HAVOK the rest of the way to the Composer. The fighter's remains were completely destroyed when John destroyed Mantle's Approach with the nuclear weapon.[12]